SCCA members are like a family. Everyone in the Club
knows that. But surely, when
it’s your closest competitor, at
your home track, and every
tenth of a second is going to
count – that “family” shows itself
as more of an “estranged uncle
holding a grudge” – right?

Not in GT-Lite.

After a big crash in Tuesday’s
qualifying that involved contact
with a concrete barrier exiting
Turn 11, Troy Ermish was in a mad
scramble to repair the front left
corner of his LSEnergy/Rebello
Racing/Troy Ermish Nissan PL510.

“Joe Huffaker offered me hisshop if I wanted to stay,” Ermishsays. “He gave me the keys tohis shop and said you can stayall night long if you’d like. I wasreally appreciative of that.”Luckily, Ermish was only anhour and a half from his own shopand had the tools he needed tofix his car. Ermish pulled backinto Sonoma Raceway at 5 a.m.on Thursday morning, runningon just three hours of sleep,and landed on the Tire Rackpole – less than a tenth aheadof Huffaker, and another twoseconds from the rest of the field.

“I was probably dumb and
delirious, that’s why I was
faster,” Ermish jokes.

Sadly, though, the heavyweight
fight never materialized. Huffaker
pulled off on just the second
lap while chasing Ermish, a
broken left rear axle the culprit.

With that, Ermish was the
National Champion in GT-Lite,
with some 35sec to spare.

“It’s just hard to explain when
you’ve got the drive,” Ermish
says. “All of my life, I wanted
to be a professional driver.

This is as close as it gets.”

GT-LITE

Ermish and Huffaker have
sparred throughout the years
on the West Coast; always
friendly, good-natured rivals.

Ermish had gotten the best of
Huffaker on occasion, inching
closer and closer to a true
competitor. That final step was
put to rest during this Runoffs.

“The high of setting fast timeis almost as good as winning,”Ermish says. “I couldn’t believeI did it. As soon as I did that, youget so much confidence. Before,I always thought I could run withhim, but I thought I’d have to runon the ragged edge to beat him.I’d be on the verge of crashing.”Behind Ermish were a pair ofClub Racing lifers, Joe Harlanand Jonathan Goodale. Thepair battled for position deepinto the race, which becamefor second place with theretirement of Huffaker andPeter Zekert (blown motor).

Harlan had been an engineer
and crew chief for a number

DREAM COME TRUE

Troy Ermish (MAIN) recovered from a crash during an early
qualifying session to take the pole and the win in GT-Lite.

of Runoffs cars over the
years but was making his first
appearance as a driver in the
Top Tech Motorsports/Nissan/
Hoosier Nissan 240SX.

Goodale, a second-generation
SCCA member from Colorado,
earned his second Runoffs
podium this year in his
Mazdaspeed/Hoosier/Hawk/
Summit Mazda MX- 5. His first
Runoffs podium came at Laguna
Seca in 2014 – another twisty
track that depends on driving and
handling rather than horsepower.

That’s no coincidence.

“I’m everything from building
the car to driving the car here
to setting up the paddock to
mounting tires,” Goodale says.

“My car hasn’t been on the dynoin five years. That’s my storywith everything. But that’s whatthis is – you and your friendsdoing the best you can.”Just a part of the successstories from the SCCA family.